Man charged in Menomonee Falls high-speed chase

Menomonee Falls — A 32-year-old Milwaukee man has been accused of leading an officer on a high-speed chase down U.S. Highway 41/45 on Dec. 23 after allegedly shoplifting from a local department store.

Timothy Matlock was charged on Dec. 26 in Waukesha County Circuit Court with using a vehicle to flee police and misdemeanor retail theft, for which he could face up to four years in prison and $20,000 in fines.

According to the criminal complaint, an officer with the Menomonee Falls Police Department was dispatched about 2:30 p.m. Dec. 23 to the Kohl's store, N95-W18000 Appleton Ave., after receiving reports of a theft.

Dispatch advised the officer in the complaint that the suspect had fled in a blue Buick LeSabre wearing a winter jacket allegedly stolen from the store. As he was arriving, the officer spotted the Buick and the vehicle was stopped on Shady Lane, the complaint states.

The officer drew his weapon and ordered the driver to kill the engine and exit the vehicle, but he instead sped off at about 50 miles per hour down the residential street, the complaint states.

The officer gave pursuit as the vehicle sped through a red light at River Crest Drive and entered onto U.S. Highway 41/45, according to the complaint.

The vehicle was traveling about 100 miles per hour, the officer noted in the complaint, and was using the emergency lane to evade traffic. The officer believed the chase could end in a crash and ended the pursuit, the complaint states.

A Kohl's security officer was able to provide surveillance footage of the incident, the complaint states, and detectives learned the suspect vehicle was registered to a Milwaukee woman.

She told police in the complaint that the vehicle had been missing since October 2013 when her ex-boyfriend Matlock left in it.

Matlock was arrested at his Milwaukee apartment after being identified by police based on the surveillance footage, the complaint states.

When asked why police were there, Matlock said in the complaint "Because I ran."

Matlock denied stealing the jacket in the complaint, saying he ditched it after being confronted by a Kohl's security officer officer.

Matlock is being held at Waukesha County Jail on a $1,000 cash bond, according to court records.

He is expected to appear at a preliminary hearing Jan. 6.

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